Locast has reportedly settled a lawsuit with ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC for considerably less money than originally decreed.
The local broadcast television streaming service, which shut down in September after losing a copyright infringement court battle, was ordered to pay $32 million to U.S. broadcasters. But according to Bloomberg Law, which obtained a copy of a non-public agreement, Locast settled with the broadcasters for just $700,000 in cash along with proceeds from the sale of the servers.
“Broadcasters... forever and irrevocably release and discharge the additional enjoined parties from... liabilities of every kind and nature, related to the claims, counterclaims, or subject matter of the Locast action,” the settlement read according to Bloomberg.
As the report points out, the original $32 million order has been used by Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) as a reason for delaying the confirmation of FCC commissioner nominee Gigi Sohn.
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ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC sued Locast in 2019 and alleged the service infringed upon exclusive rights under the Copyright Act. The lawsuit contended that Locast is not merely boosting broadcast signals for those who can’t receive them and accused the service of operating with its own commercial benefit in mind as well as the commercial benefit of large pay TV operators including DirecTV and Dish Network.
Locast’s legal representatives argued in a letter to the court that its service should be exempt from copyright liability since it only offers secondary transmissions, it doesn’t qualify as a cable system and it is run by Sports Fans Coalition NY, a non-profit.
“Plaintiffs have been unable to quantify or identify any specific impact on retransmission consent negotiations,” Locast wrote. “Even if they could, the bulk of evidence shows that the Locast service likely harms pay TV platforms because it encourages cord cutting…”